Brushes, in some shape or form and for both humans and animals/pets, have been around for hundreds of years. Brush technology has changed considerably in that time to design brushes that can be easily disassembled and cleaned, can hold other products, can discharge hair or fur easily, can be used to straighten hair, can be used to curl hair, can heat up or can fold up.
One group of brushes has been designed to easily eject hair or fur from them. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 6,427,633 issued to Patsy Ogden, a pet brush is disclosed where the bristles are fixed and a cleaning element is engaged by the user pressing a control element. The cleaning element sweeps the bristles, thus pushing hair or fur off of the bristles, so that the hair or fur is easily discharged from the brush. While this brush satisfactorily cleans fur or hair from the bristles, the bristles remain exposed. This brush is not easily stored in a drawer, bag or purse, because of the exposed bristles. In addition, the bristles can become damaged or broken, because they are exposed to general wear and tear.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,059,260 issued to Lester Peilet shows a “Spring Actuated Self-Cleaning Retractable Brush”. This brush relies on a spring in the handle that moves the bristles from a retracted state to an exposed state. While this solves some of the problems inherent in leaving the bristles exposed, the wear and tear on the handle and the fact that it can be separated from the brush head can lead to a shorter life of the brush as a whole.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,506,396 issued to Joe J. DiPippo discloses a self-cleaning hair brush that is round and wherein the bristles again are fixed in place and “cleaning elements” are moved out and along the bristles by rotating an end-piece on the handle. It is possible to leave the cleaning elements engaged (and the bristles behind them), but the bristles and the inner workings of the brush are exposed, if the cleaning elements are left in the protracted position. Therefore, this brush is similar to the pet brush described already herein.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,486,203 issued to Herman C. Pieper discloses a brush with retractable bristles, wherein the bristles are attached to a track that slides inside the shell of the brush with the help of a user-engaged moveable member. This design creates some problems in use, because the bristles are tufted and designed to spread apart once they are exposed outside the brush shell. This tufted design can create problems with cleaning the brush, as skin cells and dirt can collect inside the tufts and be drawn back into the brush shell when the bristles are retracted.
To this end, it would be desirable to form and utilize a retractable brush that can a) minimize damage to the inside of a purse or bag, b) keep from interacting with tissues, c) keep from discharging or shedding loose hairs into a bag or purse, d) be easy to clean, and e) be used for pets and humans.